Greg Hoberg and I enjoyed very good dives at Mono-lobo and SE of Cypress Point on Tuesday. Sea conditions were good with only a tiny shallow wind swell so it was easy and comfortable for the shallow dive near Cypress Point. Carmel's (and Monterey's) kelp beds have been tremendously reduced and in some areas practically eliminated by a plague of sea urchins which is the result of the annihilation of sea stars by the wasting disease in 2014 and 2013. The sea urchins are stripping out all the giant, bull and palm kelp. It makes it easy to take Greg's boat into areas that are normally inaccessible due to kelp so we are diving new sites but we are very concerned about the ecological impact. We enjoyed visibility ranging from 20 ft to 45 ft on these dives, water temperature at depth was 54 degrees. Tuesday the humpback whales were offshore on the edge of the Monterey Canyon and in the Carmel Canyon branch of the Monterey Canyon. We saw Rizzo's dolphin and common dolphin as well.
Greg "splashes" at the start of our dive.
Mono-lobo is a magical place to dive when the visibility and light are so good. The giant kelp forests there have been radically reduced by a plague of sea urchins since the sea star wasting disease eliminated so many of their predators.
Vermilion rockfish
Greg swims past a collapsed stand of giant kelp. We are seeing more of this and we aren't sure of the cause.
A plague of sea urchins. The small palm kelp to the right of the picture has a swarm of sea urchins devouring it.
Greg swims under the giant kelp canopy on the way back to our boat. Usually it is very important to be sure you have enough air at the end of your dive to do a series of shallow "hops" under the giant kelp to get back to the boat but these days it wouldn't be difficult to just swim around or through kelp patches.
To see more from our Mono-lobo dive, please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6182330648611366353?authkey=CK2fh9TpotfEqAE
We took advantage of the tiny swell and thinned out kelp beds to dive near shore SE of Cypress Point.
Sea urchin barrens. Normally this area would have a dense overhead canopy of giant kelp and the bottom would be densely covered with Palm kelp. I hope something takes down the plague of sea urchins so that the kelp can recover.
Beautiful water clarity and great sunshine allowed getting pictures of some remaining stands of kelp.
Greg swims past isolated stands of Bull kelp.
Greg found a swarm of beautiful pinkish reddish Hopkin's Rose nudibranchs.
Greg takes a picture of Hopkin's Rose nudibranchs.
Greg starts towards the surface at the end of our dive.
To see more from our SE of Cypress Point dive - bright light, pretty though sparse, kelp, please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6182331191941977073?authkey=CJrmorL225HIFQ
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